All Dolled Up
by bluepixy13
Summary: Sarah goes to her deceased Aunt's house to help pack it up, and comes across a blast from her past...in plush form. Implied eventual J/S


**A.N.-** For this week's 4F challenge on LFFL. As usual, I went way over the word limit lol. Also, I swear I'm working on new chapters for The Fair Lady and The Unexpected Can Be a Good Thing! In fact, I'm hoping to post them this weekend, yay! This weeks prompt made me go in a slight "haunted doll" direction, because I really think dolls are creepy haha. I still had to give it a happy ending though, cause I can't help myself xD

All Dolled Up

Sarah hated dolls, a strange thing considering she used to love them when she was younger. As she got older though, the more babyish dolls were outgrown, and donated to cousins or sold. The more realistic dolls creeped her out, and she would shiver anytime she had to visit Aunt Bernice, who collected the damned things. Thus, when said aunt passed away, and the family had to go to her house and help sort through things, Sarah was dreading it.

The family all converged on Bernice's residence at sunrise so they could beat the heat. Sarah, who wasn't a morning person by any means, grumbled thanks as Karen handed her a hot cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. "How have you been, dear?" Karen asked as they milled about in the yard while Sarah's father explained their plan of attack on the house.

Sarah shrugged with a smile, "I'm fine. Flu season has started so I've been able to pick up some extra hours and breathe a little with bills." Sarah was currently employed at a local pharmacy as a supervisor. It paid well, but she barely got enough hours during the week to cover her expenses.

"And, dare I ask whether there's anyone special in your life right now?"

Sarah choked on the piece of breakfast sandwich in her mouth. "Really, Karen, it's far too early in the day to hit me up with THAT question." She knew her father was secretly hoping for a grandchild soon, but her track record with relationships had not been the greatest. None of the men she'd dated so far had held her interest for long, and there was always something intrisically missing from their personalities. Not clever enough, no sense of humor, not tall enough or too tall, not blonde, not magical- _wait, what?!_ She jerked at the direction her train of thought had gone down. Thankfully, she was saved from further interrogation by her stepmother, as well as wayward daydreams, by her brother coming up to hug her.

"Hey, Sis!" He greeted cheerfully.

"Yo, Little Bro!" Sarah teased back at him. If there was one thing she didn't regret, it was rescuing her brother all those years back...if it had actually happened, of course. Some days she was dead certain she'd travelled to the Labyrinth, and other days she was convinced she'd imagined the whole thing. "How's school?"

"It's great! My teacher heard me playing the trumpet and says that I should join the band."

"That's awesome, Tobes! You'll have to invite me to the first concert."

Finally, their dad unlocked the door, and the family began to pour inside. It was time to work. Sarah tried to avoid the dolls as best she could, but Bernice had had _so_ many of them, that they occupied every room in some form. Despite her aversion, she got down to business, trying to ignore the way her skin crawled whenever she caught the glass eyed stare of one.

It was close to lunch time, something Sarah wasn't quite aware of until her stomach growled. She paused in her boxing up of items to see that she was in a completely different section of the house than she'd started in. In fact, she wondered what room this was. She blinked, trying to recall the room from any of her previous visits. It was almost like a room for a young girl, rather than an adult, all the dolls aside. And there were dolls in this room, plenty of them, but there were also stuffed animals, children's books, toys, games, and figurines. As she glanced at all the junk, she felt an increasing sense of deja vu. This wasn't just any weird room in her Aunt's house...the toys, stuffed animals, and games suddenly gained a renewed familiarity. These had all been _her_ things when she was younger. This was her room when she'd run the Labyrinth. As if waiting for her to realize this, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she had the sensation of being watched. She turned around. The doll stood out like a bright beacon of light. He was fashioned in a Japanese anime style, with those huge manga eyes, but he was made with obvious care. His wild blonde hair was cut exactly how she remembered it, the blue velveteen suit tailored to fit precisely, and even the boots and gloves were made with real leather. One eye was slightly darker than the other, and the expression on his face seemed to imply a bit of mischief. What was this, some kind of joke?

Despite her better judgement, she found herself reaching out and picking the doll up. He was soft and cudly, which gave Sarah further pause. How had such details been applied to a plush toy? "Is this one of your games, Jareth?" She asked softly. The doll winked, and she shrieked, dropping him like a hot potato. Sarah bolted out of that house as fast as she could, merely saying, "Nope!" to her confused family and headed back to the house she lived in growing up.

Later, when the rest of the family returned, Toby came into the room she was staying in for the night. "Hey, Sarah, why'd you leave so quickly?"

"Too many dolls, they creeped me out," she replied, thinking of nothing better to say.

"Oh yeah, I agree. Still, though, I came across this one I thought you'd really like. It reminded me of this weird dream I had when I was a kid."

Sarah groaned as she heard him say this, covering her eyes. Sure enough, Toby produced plush Jareth, holding it out for her as a present. Reluctantly, she took it from him, managing to thank him, but asking if she could have a bit of privacy since she still had to get ready for bed. After he left, Sarah held up the doll, grimacing. Finally she blurted, "Okay, okay, you're kind of adorable in that form. Sorry I freaked out on you." Plush Jareth held out his arms and made a kissy face at her. "I wish you would turn back to your nomal self, though. You still kind of freak me out when you do that."

With a poof of glitter, the life-sized Jareth stood in front of her, a slight pout on his face. "I thought you would enjoy a doll version of me."

"I hate dolls." Seeing the crushed look on his face, she added, "I enjoy the real you much better." By the beaming grin he aimed at her, she knew she was stuck with him. Maybe forever. Oh well, forever wasn't that long at all, she smiled to herself


End file.
